A disc brake generally provides a pair of friction elements which are engageable with a rotor to effectuate braking. In a hydraulic system a hydraulic actuator, such as a piston, is responsive to pressurized hydraulic fluid to urge one of the pair of friction elements into engagement with the rotor, resulting in a reaction force which urges the other friction element into engagement with the rotor by means of a frame or caliper member.
In a mechanical disc brake the pair of friction elements are urged into engagement with the rotor by means of an input lever which engages the frame and the one friction element and is movable by an operator to urge the one friction element into engagement with the rotor. The leverage of this input lever requires a long stroke in order to impart sufficient forces to the pair of friction elements to effectively retard the rotation of the rotor. Generally, this input lever is quite long in order to provide a sufficient stroke. Consequently, a mechanical disc brake having a compact arrangement of levers to impart braking forces to the pair of friction elements is believed to be an improvement over the prior art.